Inhale, Exhale
by Muskee
Summary: When one awry sparring session goes even more awry.


"I'll totally kick your ass today, Sasuke!" Naruto proclaimed with utmost confidence, as if it was a fact set in stone and not in any way a variable.

The boy approaching the blonde smirked and said absolutely nothing, in turn Naruto made a contispated (in Sasuke's mind) face and a huff of annoyance. Jumping off the middle log he was sitting on, Naruto approached Sasuke and clasped his hand in a firm shake.

"Good to see you again, it's been a week since Kakashi took you away! How'd you manage to slip off?" Curiosity was written all over Naruto's face. Sasuke shook his head slightly and climbed up one of the vertical logs. Just as he was about to settle down, he had to dodge an airborne Naruto, or was it a clone?

No time to ponder it, he summersaulted himself over the log and to the other side, completely evading the attack. Just not the follow up, which consisted of the orange blur to sling a shuriken at him, again forcing him on the move. A simple step to the side, back to log, and a mild thump later the immediate danger was over, and without giving Naruto a chance to so much as scream 'Bastard!', he quickly removed himself from the clearing, into the treeline.

A frowning Naruto created 3 more clones, and the squad of four oranges bounced off like a dynamo, quickly bouncing in zigzags from tree to tree after the 'enemy'. The creator just opted to again take his seat on the middle log and wait for Sasuke to show himself, either roughed up and restrained by his dopplegangers, or alone, to instigate an offensive.

* * *

Sasuke unwinded behind a tree, sure that his trap will spring any second now. Naruto's clones tended to be reckless, given that their destruction was insignificant, resulting in them only concentrating on the enemy, never on surroundings. It was a lesson that he was going to drill into the dunce right here, right now.

A clone almost cut itself in half at chest level due to colliding at high speed with high quality ninja-wire, ripping up two explosive tags that were connected by it. The rip ruined the integrity of the seals, rapidly releasing a considerable amount of chakra, and giving that it was coming from a seal, a predictable result followed.

Ashen tree trunks aside, three of the four clones were gone. One last landed on a thick treebranch and waited for Sasuke to come out. Obliged to amuse, Sasuke revealed himself from behind a tree trunk, barely 3 metres away from the clone. That one smirked, catching Sasuke off guard and _lunged _at him, while he felt a big push and a weight from his behind, widened eyes catching a drifting glance at his back, to see another Naruto. _'There were five?'_

Clone latched on Sasuke's stomach and the trio, midair, started, with increasing velocity, to approach the ground that was barely 2 metres below. Quickly concentrating chakra into his feet, Sasuke avoided a bone jarring pain in his ankles from the impact. The clone at his front wan't as luck, seeing as it landed on his knee, making it gasp in pain and dissipate. Sasuke leaned forward, grabbed the Naruto on his back and launched him on the ground. Clone barely barely managed to stand up before a painful blunt trauma to his chest forced him back against the tree trunk.

Harshly colliding with the not-so-soft material, Sasuke smirked at the clever, but poorly executed ruse, preparing to return to the clearing. Except one minor detail. The Naruto he kicked didn't dissipate. Infact, it was wheezing loudly and with rasping noises, eyes wide. Sasuke's own eyes widened and he quickly rushed to his friend's side. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Naruto, with great effort, rasped out "I told you I'd kick your ass, guess it didn-" before a harsh fit of coughs, wheezes and spitting wracked Naruto's chest.

"Get on my back, you idiot!" Sasuke was tempted to just throw him over his shoulder like a potato sack, but denied the ridiculous notion as soon as it came, seeing as it'd put even more pressure on the chest. Carefully putting Naruto's hands around his neck, he latched his hands under Naruto's hips and at a sedated pace started jumping toward Naruto's apartment.

* * *

It was five minutes later that he climbed through the always open window, into the spacious bedroom of Naruto. Setting the barely conscious softly to sit against the bedframe, he rushed off to the kitchen. Quickly opening up cabinets, he found the container of mint salve within a few seconds. Breaking it open on the way back, he spread some over his left palm, right one leaning Naruto's head back, to straighten out the air canals. Spreading the herbal mix over his chest, he continued cursing to himself.

"Smell the herbs, idiot, it'll make you better quicker." Really, it was his fault for kicking him in the first place! The rapid rising of the mass under his palm calmed down, the wheezing quited down. "Inhale, exhale, Naruto" Sasuke whispered worriedly "What'd you ever do without me, idiot?"

Naruto chuckled "Same as I always do, bastard" They sat there until sunset kicked, eventually walking out into the balcony, looking over the village about to slumber.


End file.
